Five Immersive Worlds?

If you would have told me, even ten years ago, that I would be an annual passholder that goes to Universal Orlando Resort instead of Walt Disney WOrld, I would never have believed you. Yet, here we are…

The game is/was Disney’s to lose. Many DisneyFans such as myself have been beaten down so much by vacation spreadsheeting, daily scheduling and price increases (as well as long lines, because whatever Disney does, we seem to roll with it and line up for it) that we have started looking for more relaxing “high energy” theme park vacations.

And believe me, hanging out at Universal Studios Florida during Mardi Gras enjoying food booths, the parade and tons of street entertainment turns out to be a very relaxing way to spend vacation dollars. (Sadly, we are missing Mardi Gras this year due to lack of budget for such a trip.)

My point is: I am clearly on the pro-Universal Orlando Resort side these days.

Three Theme Parks!

Universal takes alot of flack from theme park fans for stating that it has three “theme parks.” Sure, Volcano Bay may be organized like a theme park with themed areas and decorations, but to most of us, it is a water park — not a theme park. Water parks can be as themed as you want, but if I am wearing a swimsuit and going underwater, I do not consider that a theme park. Do you?

If you do, then Walt Disney World used to have seven theme parks, I guess, since it had Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as well as three water parks.

Now, with the upcoming opening of Epic Universe, I suppose Universal will be saying it has four theme parks.

But I digress…

Immersion!

There is a new extended promo video for Epic Universal. It is very well done:

About the only thing I would have changed is the scene with the kid on the Mario Kart ride. That makes it look like you go somewhere and put on a VR helmet, rather than being an actual physical ride where you get on a vehicle that moves through sets.

Then there is this…

The worlds of Epic Universe are:

  • Dark Universe – an immersive area of spooky structures and Frankenstein’s castle. All the preview footage looks amazing. This looks like it has the level of detail the Harry Potter areas have.
  • Isle of Berk – this land is based on a computer animated movie, so the “look” is more cartoonish. It looks like it will be far more immersive than Toon Lagoon (with all the flat comic book images) and Marvel Superhero Island (with all the flat graphic novel images). I do not think anyone will feel like they are “in” a cartoon, but certainly will be immersed in the imagery of the cartoon.
  • Super Nintendo World – much like Isle of Berk, this one will have videogame-ish imagery. You won’t feel like you are in a “real” place, but you will be surrounded by live action versions of things you have only seen on your Nintendo on TV.
  • Ministry of Magic – if the previous two Harry Potter areas are any indication of the quality of this land, this will also be a fully immersive area where — if it were not for the trash cans and other clues — you might feel like are in a part of Paris of the time period the film is set.

….and I count four immersive worlds. Because the fifth area is apparently:

  • Celestrial Park – the entrance area of the park, with restaurants and shopping, and a water fountain show. There will also be a carousel and roller coaster.

But how immersive does this land look? Does it make you feel like you are in another world? If this had been built as an expansion to the existing Citywalk, would it fit in there? I suspect it would, though the entire area will have a consistent look of colors and decorations.

But I do not find anything about it, via promo videos or construction footage that makes me consider it anywhere near the same category of a Harry Potter land.

I get marketing. But sometimes it feels like marketing may just set people up to be disappointed. Imagine the Disney folks who hear that Universal has “three theme parks” so they give it a try only to find it has two, plus a fancy swimming park.

Does referring to Celestial Park in the same category of “immersive worlds” as Ministry of Magic work for you?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I feel that Universal could have blown people away by having the entrance area be on-par with something like the Harry Potter areas — or at least something as well detailed and unique as Port of Entry at Islands of Adventure.

Perhaps it is intentional. You walk through Citywalk and then go into Epic Citywalk and then … get transported to a truly unique world through a portal.

We shall see… I can’t wait to get out there!

Epic Universe predictions…

Much like the generation before mine has a different perspective, those of us that have been experiencing the evolution of theme parks (in my case, since the early 1970s) have a different perspective than “the kids today” on what the future looks like.

We are now just months from the opening of Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park in Orlando. Like you, I have some thoughts — possibly predictions — based on a lifetime of theme park experience and observation. This, of course, does not make them any more than guesses, but it is still fun to write about. 🙂 I encourage you to do the same. If you can type (or dictate), you can have a blog. Consider starting one and sharing your thoughts, too!

Epic Universal “predictions”

  • The entrance area is not a theme park. The park’s “Main Street” is Constellation Park. This area has a style, but not really a theme (there is a different between theming and decorating). To me, it looks like it will be Epic CityWalk … just with a carousel and roller coaster added. It will be the least interesting first impression of the three Universal parks there. I would have expected them to try to outdo the immersive Port of Entry over at Islands of Adventure. Or, better yet, something as immersive as the existing Harry Potter lands. Imagine stepping into that versus “hey, there’s a pizza place, and there’s a bar, and we can get seafood there.”
  • Admission sold separately. There are four concierge booths — one outside each of the lands. Parks don’t build things unless they need to (restrooms) or if they make money (snack bars, gift shops, restaurants). The parks “need” First Aid, but you won’t find a first aid office in each land of the existing parks. If you trip and have a bleeding knee in Marvel Superhero Island, you have to waddle your way over to Lost Continent to get a bandage. This makes me think there are plans to use them for income, such as as ticket booths for each land. You could pay to get in to the main CityWalk area of the park, then pay to enter specific lands. (Now that Epic CityWalk makes even more sense, doesn’t it?) Indeed, years ago there was speculation this is why they were designing the parks like this — disconnected lands, one entrance and exit. However, opening like that might not make sense to anyone who has ever been to any other large theme park in America. Thus, we get a “normal” theme park experience — for now. I predict that could change, especially if the park does not meet expectations. They might end up having one “low” price to enter the park, and then you could pay to get in to the land(s) you really want. (Think of all the Harry Potter fans that are dying to see the new Potter area, but have zero interest in How To Train Your Dragon.) Disney has nothing like this.
  • 2025 visits will be special. While Disney continues to spiral (even with huge lines and sold out $75 popcorn buckets), Universal is going “full steam ahead.” But are they? Entertainment has been cut at the existing parks. Street characters removed. Events scaled back. You can find broken effects and rides that have needed updating for years. “They are just using the money for Epic.” But, without committing to keeping things looking good and running good, the same will likely happen to Epic. Early visitors will see the park shiny and new, then paint will fade in the Florida sun and possibly not get repainted for a decade. Menu items that do not prove popular will be removed (I suspect the “blood” on the meals in Dark Universal may not last). Ride effects may prove troublesome and break and not be repaired, or just be shut off (Yeti, anyone? Indiana Jones “collapsing” ceiling and “three tunnels” effects, etc.). The same might happen with street characters, stage shows and other entertainment. It is therefore very important to see this park as soon as you can.
  • Later visits will be special. Things will break down. Things will not work. Going early will not give the “full” effect of the park. Visiting months later, or next year, will likely provide a more full experience. This is problematic for me. Initially I wanted to be there in the masses for the first public day, just to say “I was there”. I skipped the opening of Animal Kingdom, showing up later in the year, and missed out on the “boat ride” that was shut down quickly. I learned from this. When Disney’s California Adventure opened, I scheduled a trip 10 days after opening. I avoided the crowds (which never appeared) and hoped the park would be running a bit smoother a week in. This worked out well and I still managed to see the bee bodies that were only there my first day in the park then removed (to never return) later in that week. Had I waited much longer, I would be like most folks who never knew they existed.
  • And so on…

Islands of Adventure was supposed to be the park that would outdo Disney, but it did not really do much. As a lifelong Disney fan, I visited Universal the year before IoA opened and explored the preview center, and then returned on opening year to see it. That park opened at the end of May, and I visited six months after that. Our single day in the park, starting at “rope drop”, had us ride everything within a few hours (and that does not count the first hour where we walked around the entire park and most things were down, or had not started running yet). It was not an epic experience — so let’s hope Universal has learned alot about park operations in the past 26 years.

And pay no attention to the downtime Hagrids and many other new rides have had when they first opened. I would be shocked if we didn’t see extensive downtime on the Dark Universe and Harry Potter rides during initial weeks (or even months) of operation.

Set your expectations properly, get out there as soon as you can, and plan to return 6 months or a year later — and then we’ll know how epic Epic Universe is.

And, well, if I just happen to get a good deal on a flight, I may end up in the opening days/weeks crowds just to say “I was there.”

It should be an epic experience unlike anything we’ve seen before. Warts and all.

Until then…

Disneyland radio codes, pre world-wide-web.

In the days before the World Wide Web, finding information about Disney theme parks was nearly impossible. There were some books and TV specials, but beyond that, unless you knew somebody with inside information (i.e. someone who worked or had worked for the Mouse), you probably didn’t know much.

Today, of course, every nook and cranny of the parks is fully documented. You can find photos and videos of backstage areas, scans of ride maintenance manuals, attraction audio files and more just by typing a few words in a search engine. You can even find endless videos from inside the “secret” Club 33 which, before the World Wide Web, most of us didn’t even know existed. Heck, even *I* have photos I took inside Club 33.

But before the modern Internet, things were different. If you didn’t live in California or Florida, you probably did not encounter many (or even any) people who worked for Disney. Everything I knew about Disneyland and Magic Kingdom was from my family taking me to both several times as a kid in the 1970s.

Finding Disney information in the early 1980s…

But that started to change when home computers and telephone modems became a thing. In the early 1980s, I learned about computer Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes). I could dial in to some other kid’s computer and read messages from other users that called in at other times. Unlike a real bulletin board on the wall at a local book shop, this computer bulletin board could be accessed by anyone in the local area code! (Or around the world if they wanted to pay long distance phone charge to call some random kid’s computer in Houston, I guess.)

It was through one of these BBSes I met my first former Disney employee. He had worked at Magic Kingdom in the maintenance department. The stories he shared were my first glimpse “behind the magic” of Disney theme parks.

For example, he explained the projectors that made the singing busts and the Madam Leota’s face on the table in the Haunted Mansion. He described how the face surface was mostly flat with a bit of shape for where the nose and eyes and such would be. He mentioned they used a fan to blow air to keep dust from being in the projection beam. He said they used special lenses that refocused it around the shape. He also mentioned “angel hair” (though I still have no idea what this meant) for Leota’s crystal ball.

Was any of this true? A decade later, thanks to the World Wide Web, it sure seemed like most of it was.

But, not all of his stories checked out. He said that the Disney designers had been wanting to do a similar Leota type projection effect for 20,000 Leagues under the sea involving an octopus. Have you ever heard of such a rumor or experiment?

Even before the internet, there were rumors, and Disney cast members heard plenty of of them — some true, but most were not (just like today).

Finding Disney information in the late 1980s/early 1990s…

The 1980s also brought us national text-based services like CompuServe, The Source, Delphi and GEnie. Instead of just being able to interact with folks who were calling in to some random kid’s computer in same town, now you could dial a local number and be connected to a series of mainframe computers connected across the country (or even around the world).

I was a member of a few of these services in the later 1980s and early 1990s. It was on one of these services in the early 1990s that someone sent me a list of Disneyland radio codes. Thanks to my dad, I had already become familiar with some of these. His van was loaded with radio equipment and police scanners. When we’d drive to Walt Disney World, we’d sit in the parking lot listening to Disney radio chatter. (Have I told the story about carrying around scanners in the park, listening in? If not, I will have to sometime…)

He had written down a list of codes and what they meant. He had also gotten some more codes and information from Disney security staff. I am pretty sure I must have asked my Disneyland contact about these codes to see if I could get a complete list for my dad.

So below, I present to you a slightly redacted (just in case he still works for Disney in some capacity) of these codes. I wonder if any of these are still in use? I certainly recognize a few of the more famous ones… But back then, I don’t think any of us know what a ride going “101” meant.

Enjoy this trip back to the early 1990s…


Sub: Disneyland's radio codes...

Allen,

I'll bet you thought I forgot you!  Well, do be honest, I did, but I ran
across the printout I made, so now I remember! :-)

Here are all of the codes I have...

Common Radio Codes Used At Disneyland

10-1      Receiving poorly
10-2      Receiving well
10-4      OK or Acknowledge
10-6      Busy
10-7      Out of service (usually used when going to lunch)
10-8      In service (when back from lunch)
10-9      Repeat last transmission
10-14     Escort or convoy (I've never heard this one used)
10-19     Return to office
10-20     What is your location?
10-21     Call x (where x is the telephone # given following the code)
10-22     Cancel last message/assignment
10-23     Stand-by
10-28     Registration request (never heard this one, either)
10-87     Meet __________ at __________
10-96     Request test of select call
10-97     Arrive at scene
10-98     Finished last assignment
10-99     Undesirable person (add to 10-99 the following codes)
     Code C = Caucasion
     Code B = Black
     Code L = Latino
     Code O = Oriental

11350     Possession of Dangerous drugs
11357     Possession of Marijuana
5150      Mentally disturbed
211       Robbery
240       Assualt
242       Battery
314       Indecent exposure
390       Drunk
408       Counterfeit bill
415       Disturbing the peace
417       Person with weapon (add following codes)
     Code G = Gun
     Code K = Knife
459       Burglary
486       Petty theft
502       Drunk driver
503       Stolen vehicle
594       Malicious mischief
901       Traffic Accident, unknown if injury
901-T     Injury traffic accident
902       Accident, non-injury
904       Fire
921       Prowler
925       Suspicious person
982       Bomb threat
999       Officer needs help, any unit respond

Code 1    Routine
Code 2    Urgent
Code 3    Emergency
Code 4    No further assistance needed
Code 5    Stake out
Code 7    Lunch
Code H    Call home
Code 100  Attraction delayed opening
Code 101  Attraction down - routine
Code 102  Attraction down - urgent
Code 103  Attraction down - emergency
Code 104  Attraction up - Normal operation
Code 105  Attraction up - reduced operations
Code 106  Attraction up - Full capacity

GC        Guest Complaint

There are many more that I can't think of off the top of my head, but this
will give you alot to listen for.  Please don't indiscrimanantly reveal
these codes, i.e. 'in the RT'.  This is _not_ for public knowledge,
although with a little investigation by anyone, they could find most of
these out. ;-)


[Redacted]

Until next time…

Site downtime… fixed?

Oops. A plug-in update took down this site this weekend. I found the culprit and got it back online. Seems this has happened, at one time or another, to every WordPress site I run. It seems so common there are even WordPress support pages showing ways to fix it.

Yet we keep using this software 😉

Happy 2025, folks!

Truth Traveler VR attraction coming to Branson and Pigeon Forge

There will be a new virtual reality (or so it seems) attraction opening in Branson, Missouri later this year. It is taking over the former Andy Williams Moon River Theater. According to the always-accurate Wikipedia, Andy Williams opened that theater in 1992. According to this article at Thousands Hills, Williams performed there until 2011 when he was diagnosed with cancer. He passed away the following year.

According to an article by SJB, the property had been up for sale and was most recently purchased by Mindscape Creative. They specialize in 5-D theater attractions (the gimmicky name for having 3-D or VR movies that feature things like moving seats, scenes, or in-theater effects such as wind and such).

Per their press release:

Time Travel is making its way to the former Andy Williams Moon River Theater in Branson, MO, with Truth Traveler, a virtual reality ride and attraction developed by the acclaimed Ark Encounter and Mindscape Creative. Mindscape Creative, known for their expertise in blending cutting-edge technology with captivating narratives, has worked with the Ark Encounter to bring Truth Traveler to life at their Kentucky location and is also developing it for Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

– Truth Traveler Press Release

Ark Encounter is an attraction located in Kentucky that opened in 2016. It features a “life sized” replica of what the biblical Noah’s Ark could have been like.

Unsurprisingly, with their involvement, Truth Traveler is also a bible-inspired attraction.

From the look of some of the concept art, it reminds me of early EPCOT at Walt Disney World.

The images hint of what may be a pre-show, or other exhibit within the attraction.

Several characters have been created for the attraction, including The Inventor, P.O.D. and Rae:

Truth Traveler – The Inventor
Truth Traveler – POD
Truth Traveler – Rae

Although some of the concept art makes it look like a fully immersive ride environment…

…other images reveal that may just be what you see while sitting in a less-themed room and wearing a V.R. helmet:

Of interest, it looks like they are using HTC VIVE V.R. helmets (you can buy consumer versions of those to use at home) and the MX4D movie theater seats (we have those at one of our local theaters here in Des Moines, Iowa). As such, the experience may only be unique for those who have never tried V.R. before, and do not regularly watch movies in moving theater seats. (And we actually have two theater chains in Des Moines with different brands of moving seats, in theaters that feature effects such as wind, smells, etc.)

Hopefully, the storyline will be compelling, as well as any exhibits/pre-shows/etc. to make this stand out from the various other 5-D theater experiences found in Branson already.

And, for those looking for a more Christian-based positive message, the movie alone may be an attraction. For those less interested in that type of messaging, perhaps one of the several other attractions that let you blast zombies or aliens will be more interesting.

Since Branson is just a “short drive” down the road from where I am, I do expect to drive down and check out this new attraction when it opens. At that point, I hope to add new photos to the Branson photo gallery as well as VR images and movies to my Branson in VR projects.

More to come…

Golden Zypher???

Almost no one watches anything I post on YouTube (I created a channel for this site two years) ago), but of those who do, apparently they watch my Golden Zypher video the most. Out of all the things that were at Disney’s California Adventure when it opened in 2001, why is there interest in video of this ride? Thoughts?

Omega Mart. You have no idea.

Deep inside Area 15 (yes, 15) in Las Vegas is Omega Mart. To the casual observe, it looks like any old grocery store… but looks can be very deceiving.

This commercial from two years ago is one of the more up-front videos about the attraction, but when videos started appearing online in 2021, they were far more cryptic.

For instance, take a look at this old Omega Mart TV ad…

“Local coast to coast” and “your family won’t be the same” seemed … odd.

Even the more modern commercials also show that something is not quite right here.

Nebula loaf?

There were also bizarre product ads, like this one for Shrubs, the avocado-flavored French fry treats.

There are even videos about Plenty Valley and how it came to be at Omega Mart.

I fell down this Omega Mart rabbit hole quite deeply. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of Omega Mart videos. Some are presented as TV ads for the grocery store itself, promoting special deals. Others are for what I assume are “store brand” products. And others are like weird informercials…

The videos were scattered around the internet on YouTube, social media, websites and more, so I expect there are plenty I have yet to see. Fortunately, some folks have collected them and put together compilations of all the videos they have found.

And the rabbit hole went even deeper: There are internal employee training videos! Here are all the sections presented as one long video.

So just what IS Omega Mart?

Beats me! And we spent over five hours exploring it.

Here is my VR walkthrough of a tiny bit of it. In the future, I’ll share some thoughts and explanations.

Until then…

Area 15 does not exist.

Area 15 in Las Vegas (not to be confused with Area 51) is an entertainment complex that houses various food, drink, and entertainment offerings. You can ride an indoor zip-line, throw axes, play retro video games, experience Virtual Reality and spend hours exploring Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart.

Here is a VR walk around some of the art displays outside the building:

And here is a VR walk around the inside of the Area 15 building:

Admission to the building itself is free, so you can just go there and look around. Individual attractions and experiences all charge their own fees.

You can buy combo passes to save some money, as well, though I did not check to see how much of a saving this actually is.

Meow Wolf Omega Mart in Las Vegas

First, a quick update to my Miscellaneous (“Other Places”) photo gallery… I found some Las Vegas, Nevada photos I took in 2000 during a work trip. These were taken with my 1996-era Epson PhotoPC digital camera, so the “high resolution” was only 640×480. You can take a glimpse of Vegas through the eyes of a first-generation digital camera here:

http://misc.disneyfans.com/OtherPlaces/Nevada/index.html

Next, Omega Mart has been added to the gallery! After running in to some very weird “commercials” on YouTube for this “grocery store” a few years ago, I went down quite a rabbit hole watching their in-universe videos. Omega Mart is an interactive experience where you can walk through and just look at bizarre artistic creations, OR go down the rabbit hole yourself and explore the underlying story. For this one, Omega Mart is a grocery store operated by a corporation called Dramcorp. Dramcorp is up to some questionable business practices, involving alien worlds, extracting “the source” from humans, and stuff that it would take a book to fully explain. If even possible.

I really wanted to get to Omega Mart, but ended up in Denver earlier this year, and thus my first Meow Wolf experience was their Convergence Station (see photos in the gallery).

But now, Omega Mart has been visited:

http://misc.disneyfans.com/OtherPlaces/Nevada/LasVegas2024/Area15/index.html

It is located inside a facility called Area 15 (15, not 51) which was quite the site on its own—attractions, food, drinks, VR, arcade, shopping and, of course, Omega Mart.

VR photos posted to Park Hopping in VR on Facebook, and VR videos will be on my Park Hopping in VR YouTube channel (currently unlisted, but I will make them available soon—or ask, and I’ll send you the link sooner).

More to come…

Silver Dollar City “An Old Time Christmas”

The Disney/MGM Studios was epic at Christmas time when it had the “Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights”, but that has been gone for years. If you want a Christmas light fix, check out Silver Dollar City in Missouri. They basically said “hold my (root) beer” (no alcohol in the park, you see) and put up 6.5 million lights — more than what the Disney display had.

Photos from this event have been added to the Theme Parks gallery:

http://themeparks.disneyfans.com/SilverDollarCity/index.html

I have also been posting VR/360 photos to my Park Hopping in VR Facebook page and VR/360 videos to my Park Hopping in VR YouTube channel.

Explore!